The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1887-08-23

main. There were some things
probably which the Legislature
might see fit to change in the future,
but taken as a whole, Mr.. Gibson
thought it an able, well-constructed
document.
"This new Constitution, by the
way," said Mr.. Gibson, "you must
know was a sort Of afterthought on
the part of the opposition. | do
not think they had any idea of maxi
ing any such demand at first, but
when they found the way made so
easy for them they increased their
demands. First the native members
of the Ministry of which was the
head resigned in a body and few
DAYS afterward i followed their ex-
ample so as to relieve the King
from the embarrassment OF sustain
ing me against such an opposition.
The story got around that there was
perfect panic at the palace and
that encouraged the opposition to
increase their demands. There
seems to have been no leader OF the
opposition. 1t was general move
ment on the part of what is known
as the Missionary party. The name
is one that is calculated to mislead
the public. The so-called Mis-
sionary party is composed of the
descendants of the old missionaries
and those who affiliate with them.
Their opposition was principally
directed against me personally, and
thought it best to resign, hoping
that would put an end to the
trouble. 1 had been wishing for
some time to take trip to the
United States, both for pleasure
and to recruit my health"
81 suppose your arrest was a
surprise to you"
eyes, i hardly expected things
to take that turn. But | see that a
mistake has been made about my
trial. The fact of the matter is
that there was no trial and i never
appeared in court. l never even
had an examination. About 25O
armed men came to my house and
put me under arrest and took me to
a warehouse where | was confined
for few hours. Then l was taken
back to my house and was kept
there under arrest; that is, was
kept in the house with a guard out
side. After few days the Attor-
ney-General came to see me and
said that he thought it would pre-
vent any talk and possibly demon
stration if i were confined in Jail, so
we went to the Jail, where l lived
with the jailer, taking my meals
with him, while they were examin-
ing my accounts. / was not locked
up, and the jailer told me that the
had no warrant for me nor any au-
thority on which to hold me. The
new officials in the meantime ex-
amined my accounts and found
everything correct, with the proper
vouchers for every cent. Mr..
Green, the. new Prime Minister,
came to see me while l was under
arrest, and said that the Spreckels
was to sail on Saturday, the 8th,
and he thought l had better go on
her, as something disagreeable might
occur if / waited for the steamer.
AS it was supposed that the vessel
would make the trip in fourteen
days and get in here about two
weeks ahead of the next steamer, |
was quite willing to come by her.
The vessel did not sail until Tues
day, however, and on that day the
Attorney-General went into court
and entered a "nolle prosequi' in
my case, as there had been found
nothing to substantiate the charges
against me-"
"Were not charges of similar
nature made against the King?"
eyes. He was accused of having
connived at my taking bride for
granting an exclusive privilege for
dealing in Opium. He often
talked of the matter to me and
wanted to appoint me Regent, re-
sign bis position and stand trial on
the charges like any other citizen.
1 advised him against such a course
and finally talked to one of the Su-
preme Court Judges, and he also
advised the King not to adopt any
such PLAN"
"From your knowledge of the
King, can you form any idea of
which provisions in the new Consti-
tuition he objected to-"
"No. l think he would have soon
suggested a similar one himself.
He often spoke to me on the sub
ject. He thought there was too
much power vested in an individual.
There was no more absolute mon
archy in the world than Hawaii un-
der the old Government. The Legis-
lature met and passed laws and the
King approved or rejected them, as
he saw fit. At one session, lasting
about five months, over 100 bills
were passed. After the Legislature
adjourned we met at the Palace and
looked over the bills. Paul Neu-
mann was Attorney-General at the
time, and he looked over each bill
approved or disapproved, and in his
judgment they were divided into
two lots. One set the King signed
and they became laws. The others,